Modeling and Simulation of Microstructural Evolution in Metallic Materials

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Applications of Metallic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 560

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Materials and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: data-driven alloy design and processing; numerical simulation of microstructure; machine learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, computational modeling and simulation have emerged as powerful tools for predicting the formation, transformation, and evolution of complex microstructures in metallic materials under various processing conditions. This Special Issue aims to present the latest advances in the modeling and simulation of microstructural evolution in metallic materials. 

Topics covered in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  1. The simulation of microstructural evolution during materials processing, such as solidification processes, solid-state phase transformations, recrystallization and grain growth, welding, and additive manufacturing, using phase-field, cellular automaton, kinetic Monte Carlo, level-set, and other relevant methods.
  2. The integration of microstructure modeling with machine learning, including accelerating the prediction of microstructural evolution, designing advanced alloys, and establishing data-driven mappings between process parameters, microstructure, and mechanical properties to guide process optimization.
  3. Multiscale simulation frameworks coupling different computational techniques (e.g., phase-field method, macroscopic FEM, CALPHAD, crystal plasticity, molecular dynamics, discrete dislocation dynamics) to bridge scales from atoms to engineering levels.
  4. Advances in computational methodologies for microstructure simulation, including novel model formulations, efficient numerical algorithms, high-performance computing strategies, and open-source software dedicated to metallic material systems. 

We seek original research articles and comprehensive reviews that highlight recent progress in this field. All manuscripts will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure their quality and relevance. We look forward to receiving your work and welcome any comments or suggestions for this Special Issue.

Dr. Chunwen Guo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • phase field
  • microstructural evolution
  • solidification
  • solid-state phase transformation
  • grain growth
  • integration of phase-field modeling with machine learning
  • processing parameter optimization
  • multiscale simulation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 7104 KB  
Article
Phase Field Simulation Study of Competitive Growth of Polycrystalline in Directional Solidification Under Natural Convection Conditions
by Qiao Yin, Huaxiang Zha, Chunwen Guo, Junjie Li, Hongliang Zhao, Shuya Zhang, Xianglei Dong and Yuheng Fan
Metals 2026, 16(5), 454; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16050454 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 318
Abstract
Directional solidification technology is the core process for manufacturing single-crystal blades in aero-engines, but transverse grain boundaries caused by the competitive growth of polycrystals severely degrade blade performance. To gain a deeper understanding of polycrystalline competitive growth behavior, this study investigates the competitive [...] Read more.
Directional solidification technology is the core process for manufacturing single-crystal blades in aero-engines, but transverse grain boundaries caused by the competitive growth of polycrystals severely degrade blade performance. To gain a deeper understanding of polycrystalline competitive growth behavior, this study investigates the competitive growth of polycrystals during directional solidification under natural convection based on the phase field and lattice Boltzmann coupling model. By adjusting the solutal expansion coefficient, grain configuration, and pulling velocity, the influence of the flow field on polycrystalline competitive growth is analyzed. The results indicate that changes in the solutal expansion coefficient affect the dendritic competition process and outcome, particularly for dendrites with larger favorably oriented (FO) angles, which are more likely to be eliminated at higher solutal expansion coefficients. Additionally, grain configurations with greater orientation differences between adjacent dendrites are more sensitive to changes in the solutal expansion coefficient, whereas configurations with smaller orientation differences are less affected. It was also found that as the pulling velocity increases, the primary dendrite arm spacing decreases and the growth direction of the dendrites deflects towards the temperature gradient direction. This leads to a reduction in vortices at the dendrite tips and grain boundaries, thereby decreasing the overall flow field intensity. During dendrite growth, solute is rejected from the solid phase, creating a concentration gradient between the dendrite tips and the liquid region. This induces convection in the liquid phase. The interaction between the flow field and the solute concentration in the liquid phase causes the flow field strength and solute concentration to exhibit periodic fluctuations. Full article
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